“Kitty Wells”

Description

The singer weeps to remember Kitty Wells. The two were planning their wedding when she died

Supplemental text

Kitty Wells
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

From J. H. Cox, Folk-Songs of the South, #127, p. 395.

Supplied by Violet Norland; collected by 1916. Reportedly
copied out by John Raese, who learned it circa 1880.

1 You might ask what causes me to weep,
    While others 'round me are so gay;
  What makes the tears roll down my cheeks
    From early morn till close of day.

      Chorus
  While the birds are singing in the morning,
    And the myrtle and the ivy are in bloom,
  And the sun over the hilltops a-dawning,
    It was then I laid her in the tomb.

2 My mournful story you shall hear,
    While in my memory fresh it dwells;
  It will cause you to drop a tear
    Over the grave of my sweet Kate Wells.

3 I shall never forget the day,
    While together 'round the dell,
  I kissed her cheek and named the day
    That I should marry Kate Wells.

4 But death came in my cabin door
    And stole from me my joy, my pride;
  But when I found she was no more,
    I laid down my banjo and cried.

5 The springtime has no charms for me,
    Though flowers are blooming in the dell;
  'Tis that sweet form I cannot see,
    The form of my dear Kate Wells.

          *** B ***

Katy Wells

From [H. M. Wharton], War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy,
pp. 212-213.


You ask what makes this darky sad,
  Why he like others am not gay,
What makes the tear flow down his cheek
  From early morn till close of day?
My story, darkies, you shall hear
  For in my memory fresh it dwells,
'Twill cause you all to drop a tear
  On the grave of my sweet Katy Wells.

      Chorus:
When the birds were singing in the morning,
  And the myrtle and the ivy were in bloom
When the sun o'er the hills was dawning;
  'Twas then we laid her in the tomb.

Oh, I remember well the day
  When we roamed together through the dells,
I kissed her cheek and named the day
  When I should marry Katy Wells.
But death came in my cabin door,
  And stole from me my joy and pride,
And when I found she was no more,
  I laid my banjo down and cried.
The springtime has no charms for me,
  The flowers that bloom around the dells
There's a form I long to see;
  The form of my sweet Katy Wells.   Chorus--

  I've sometimes wished that I was dead,
    And laid beside her in the tomb,
  For sorrow now bows down my head
    In silence to the midnight gloom,
  I'm longing for the day to come
    When I shall clasp her to my heart,
  While in the heavenly fields we roam
    And never, never more to part.   Chorus--

Notes

This piece was repeatedly published in the mid-nineteenth century. The earliest copy (1858) credits it to Charles E. Atherton; the same publisher in 1861 issued an "authorized" edition as by T. Brigham Bishop. A third copy, from 1860, credits the piece to Thomas Sloan, Jr.

From the notes in Cox, it appears that this began life as a dialect song, but many of the texts (including Cox's own) are now in ordinary English. - RBW

Broadsides

• NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(110b), "Kitty Wells," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890

Recordings

• Vernon Dalhart, "Kitty Wells" (Victor 20058, 1926)
• Sid Harkreader, "Kitty Wells" (Paramount 3043, 1927)
• The Hillbillies, "Kitty Wells" (Vocalion 5018/Vocalion 5019, c. 1926)
• Doc Hopkins, "Kitty Wells" (Decca 5983, 1941)
• Bradley Kincaid, "Sweet Kitty Wells" (Champion 15502 [as Dan Hughey]/Gennett 6363/Silvertone 5187/Silvertone 8218/Supertone 9208, 1928; rec. 1927)
• Pickard Family, "Kitty Wells" (Columbia 15141-D, 1927); (Conqueror 7517, 1930)
• Ernest V. Stoneman, "Kitty Wells" (Okeh 45048, 1926) (Edison 51994, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5341, 1927)
• Virginia Ramblers, "Kitty Wells" (OKeh, unissued, 1929)

References

1. BrownIII 411, "Kitty Wells" (1 text plus mention of 12 more)
2. Brewster 92, "Kitty Wells" (2 texts plus an excerpt)
3. McNeil-SFB2, pp. 166-168, "Kitty Wells" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 185-186, "Kittie Wells" (1 text)
5. Beck 78, "Kitty Wells" (1 text)
6. LPound-ABS, 94, p. 202, "Kitty Wells" (1 text)
7. JHCox 127, "Kitty Wells" (1 text)
8. cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Kitty Wells" (source notes only)
9. ST MN2166 (Full)
10. Roud #2748
11. BI, MN2166